Karma — P2P Loans System

Our team developed a unified visual language for both the token sale website and the application interface. We also created a frontend application that directly interacts with the blockchain part of the system.

Aggregion

With a short deadline, AGENTE designed and developed a WordPress website from scratch to house a blockchain platform. After launching the main landing page, we built out ancillary pages and a wallet feature.

San Francisco Stock Exchange — fintech platform and mobile app

Agente transformed a finance-focused mobile app concept into a visual rendering. Deliverables included wireframes, graphic designs, and a pitch deck for investors. Minor development services were also provided.

CornerStone Projects

Lend Line

Agente designed a logo for a financial software developer’s latest software-as-a-service, a lending interface for community banks. They also created a corporate brand book and pitch deck that helps fundraise.

Sarpino's Pizza

The client approached us to investigate the reasons behind the low conversion rate and high bounce rate on mobile devices. Our second goal was to produce a new visually attractive user interface that would allow integrating a new logo.

Having analyzed the data, we came to a conclusion that the website does not adapt to mobile devices, so we decided to develop a new user interaction strategy. As a result, we

…

created a consistent pass-through navigation and added an option to quickly order pizza from any page of the website. Additionally, we created an interface that easily adapts to desktop, tablet, and smartphone.

the review

A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a Norwegian company founded in 2000. We have developed a web-service platform called Cornerstone, which provides online fundraising and membership management for organizations. The company has around 15 employees spread between Norway, Russia, and Ukraine. I am the chief marketing officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AGENTE?

A part of the challenge had to do with our communication through the company website, as well as our graphic profile, which we renewed recently.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked on several projects with AGENTE, some for a few hours’ worth of work, and others spanning several months, including subprojects.

AGENTE has created our latest graphic design and corporate identity, including most of the user interface of our platform. The aim was to create an intuitive, inviting, and pleasant app for users. The project started with a review of our logo. We had worked with different designers in the past, so our communication was not consistent. AGENTE created a new logo and a simple profile consisting of fonts, colors, and visual elements that we could use throughout our operations. We ran several campaigns in 2016, so AGENTE had to build a package for our conference stand, along with infographics for the display computer. They also created a new concept for our brochures and website. It was a complete branding package.

In terms of communication, AGENTE has had the regular task of finding the right expression of our business, communicating the right message to clients about who we are and what we deliver.

We were assigned a project manager, and I believe that the team also included a designer and another resource.

How did you come to work with AGENTE?

Our CTO had an existing relationship with AGENTE since before our company was started. We’ve also worked with other designers and don’t use AGENTE exclusively since we produce websites for clients and interact with different designers. We are regularly in the process of evaluating which firm is the best fit for a particular project. When it comes to our own communication and the design of our product, we more-or-less use AGENTE systematically. We may also involve freelancers, but AGENTE holds the artistic line of our branding.

How much have you invested with AGENTE?

Our last project for a new branding profile had a cost of around $10,000. Our spending changes a lot from year to year. Overall, we’ve spent just under $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our latest project with AGENTE in the summer of 2016, and the work spanned over 8 months. The partnership was started way before my time in the company, at least 4 years ago. We have a long-term partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

We compete with different web apps, mostly on the Norwegian market. Many of our competitors here don’t really see the value of having a good design for their applications. Often, we get feedback from customers during both the sales and training processes. They feel that our system is easy to understand and intuitive. It gives users a sense of trust, and this has a lot to do with the aesthetic.

We received some comments saying that our previous interface was too dark. When we launched the new version of the GUI [graphical user interface], as well as our new branding and logo, we received a lot of positive feedback. It helps place us within the category of trusted businesses. It may not say anything about how we do our job, but having a professional expression sends the signal that we take our business seriously.

How did AGENTE perform from a project management standpoint?

The last deadline was rather tight and surrounded by some uncertainty. We’ve had to adjust a lot along the way, and I feel that AGENTE has been very good at remaining flexible and accommodating our needs, even during rather difficult periods with holidays and other impediments. AGENTE has done a good job in managing resources. The communication has been good, and I feel that the project is under control. AGENTE is good at having an overview and putting it through. Deadlines have been reached.

What did you find most impressive about AGENTE?

One thing we particularly appreciate about AGENTE is their creativity and the fact that the team is very much in touch with what’s going on in the digital world. When it comes to digital communication, AGENTE is very good at creating designs that feel current and fresh. During the logo design process, which was quite sensitive, AGENTE listened to our feedback and tried different things. For the budget we had, AGENTE delivered a lot of value. When it came to print designs, however, I felt that they had less experience, so AGENTE is definitely stronger in terms of digital and creativity.

I’ve worked with many designers who operated systematically, creating their own frameworks and following them tightly. In this sense, AGENTE is less of a traditional corporate designer, but they are definitely stronger on the artistic side, so this is what we tend to use them for.

Are there any areas AGENTE could improve?

Print design is a questionable area because it’s not our main focus either. Whether it’s an improvement point or simply something that AGENTE isn’t focusing on depends on how we look at it. Nothing comes to mind right now. We’ve generally been happy with the delivery, which is why we’ve worked with AGENTE for several years.

I would appreciate a bit more attention to detail. We’ve tended to prefer other designers for brochures or content-heavy material. This has to do with language since we produce content in Norwegian; even though AGENTE is good with English, there are too many small mistakes during the copy/paste process. It’s not a critical thing, but there could be better quality control internally before delivering to the client.

4.0

Overall Score

5.0Scheduling

ON TIME / DEADLINES

4.0Cost

Value / within estimates

Cost depends a lot on what it’s compared to. AGENTE is expensive for a Minsk company, but they cost about half or less of what we’d pay a company in Norway for the same job. We could find cheaper options, but I wouldn’t expect the same quality.

4.0Quality

Service & deliverables

AGENTE has delivered as expected. The creativity and time values are good.

4.0NPS

Willing to refer

It depends on what the colleague wants to do. In the case of a brochure, a book, or other content-intensive material, I wouldn’t recommend AGENTE. For our type of work, like web app-interfaces and website design, I would.

Agente assisted with website development and a redesign following a major company rebranding effort. They now conduct site adjustments for optimal functionality and visual appeal.

The Reviewer

51-200 Employees

Chicago, Illinois

Marketing Director, Pizza Chain

Verified

the reviewer

Marketing Director, Pizza Chain

Food & Beverage

51-200 Employees

Chicago, Illinois

Phone Interview

A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone.

Verified

4.5

Quality:

4.5

Schedule:

5.0

Cost:

5.0

Willing to refer:

5.0

the review

"They're always willing to make any adjustments that we need."

Apr 20, 2017

The Review

Feedback summary:

Using new in-house branding guidelines, the development team transformed the marketing vision into streamlined web pages. General web traffic has increased, in part because of Agente’s intuitive designs and flexible revision process.

the review

A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We have 50 pizza franchise locations here in the United States in different markets. I’m the marketing manager, overseeing national-level marketing activities. We have two different types of marketing: marketing at a national level and store-level marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Agente?

Recently, we launched a major rebranding of the company, so we hired Agente to help us with our website development and online needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did the major work in redesigning our existing website, creating new pages and designs, and trying to reflect what we as a company stand for now. They also helped us with email blast development. They didn’t do social media marketing. There’s an online ordering component that’s an e-commerce website. This is POS [point of sale], so Agente wasn’t responsible for creating or improving that. Whatever is digital or online, they pretty much helped us with that.

We developed branding guidelines once we went through the major branding. It was a document where we would oversee and give Agente a description of what to achieve and what we want people to know. They took the information they had and helped us visualize it, based on our branding and our needs, on pages on the website. They didn’t do something major like design a logo. For example, there is an icon on the website that says "Free Delivery." If you click on this, you'll see how they visualize "Free Delivery" based on our branding and needs.

How did you come to work with Agente?

I'm not sure how we first found Agente. I just know we have them. I’ve been with the company for 2 years, so maybe they found them before I started. We did a small project with them to start and then analyzed the results we received. We started giving them bigger and bigger projects, and we still work with them today.

How much have you invested with Agente?

It's probably $10,000–$20,000 per year if you're doing a big project. If not, then it’s up to $10,000. We don't do any work with them on a monthly basis; it’s more on a project basis. They charge us per hour per project. They give us their rate and the estimated number of hours they’re going to spend on it. Then, we start working, and they give us the breakdown of actual hours and send us an invoice based on what we agreed initially. Last year, we spent a lot because we were developing all the website pages and the new emails. They’re pretty decent in terms of price. They're not overpriced.

What is the status of this engagement?

They’ve been working with me for 2 years. At first, we started with something really small: changing a hero image on the website or Facebook page. The work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

If I'm checking the last 30 days, my website traffic is 220,000 sessions, but it's general website traffic. I check my Google Analytics to see the performance of my landing pages, just to know if people actually are interested, but I cannot say if Agente’s contribution to the overall success is a part of it since I also work with my SEO team to develop and make sure the content performs well. It's a team effort. I personally like what they do. What they have created for us is visually appealing.

How did Agente perform from a project management standpoint?

They are a very good team of professionals. They are very responsive. They're always willing to make any adjustments that we need. They never get offended if we don't like something or ask for another round of revisions. Everything you see on our website is all done by them.

We use email for the majority of our communication. They don't have any project management tools in place to view their progress. We worked with Andrew (a general manager). I usually communicate with him, and he coordinates with his team. However, in rare cases when his team is not clear on what I envision, they connect me directly to the designers. We jump on a conference call via Skype and discuss the details. It goes both ways.

What did you find most impressive about Agente?

I think a good reference would be the full landing pages on our site: open 365, open late, we deliver, and no minimum order. Those are the best examples of what they have done for us so far. Other than that, they are a good company to work with. They respond in a timely manner and follow up with us. They are not money cautious, so they don't push the invoices to you right away. They usually give you a timeframe to pay. I’ve never experienced any issues with them. If I do sense a problem, I call the designers and say, "I think you’re moving in the wrong direction. Here's what I would like to see" and they adjust.

Are there any areas Agente could improve?

No, I don't think so. They do a good job.

4.5

Overall Score

5.0Scheduling

ON TIME / DEADLINES

They're always available online. They respond all the time. I never have issues with communicating.

5.0Cost

Value / within estimates

They're perfect.

4.5Quality

Service & deliverables

About 99% of the work that they do is what we expected. Only 1% requires some changes.

Agente designed a logo for a financial software developer’s latest software-as-a-service, a lending interface for community banks. They also created a corporate brand book and pitch deck that helps fundraise.

The Reviewer

1-10 Employees

New York, New York

COO, Lending Software Developer

Verified

the reviewer

COO, Lending Software Developer

IT Services

1-10 Employees

New York, New York

Online Review

The client submitted this review online.

Verified

5.0

Quality:

5.0

Schedule:

4.5

Cost:

5.0

Willing to refer:

5.0

the review

"They’re very open and efficient."

Feb 09, 2017

The Review

Feedback summary:

Agente designed a logo that was versatile and effective. It attracted VCs as well as clients, who are often more traditional. Though the team delves too deeply into detail, causing delays, they are highly creative and communicate openly. Their work continues to help in fundraising.

We were developing our online lending software for community banks, which was a new type of customer for us. Our team has experience in marketplace lending and worked for different companies in that space, but community banks have now decided to come into this market. It’s a very traditional industry, so we needed to develop software and sell it for them, keeping in mind their traditional values and their less risky approach.

Our software-as-a-service allows community banks to start lending online in a matter of days with no upfront costs. We brought on Agente because we wanted a logo that was fintech-looking to appeal to VCs, but also traditional enough to appeal to our customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed designs for our logo and corporate brand book. They also designed a pitch deck for us. We worked with 4 people from their team including their CEO, 2 designers, and a customer relations team member.

How did you come to work with Agente?

We researched different providers and their price was competitive. We also saw what Agente did for one of my friend’s companies and we liked it very much.

How much have you invested with Agente?

We have spent less than $10,000 over the course of our relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

They quickly got to the task and came to us with a few iterations before providing a solution that our team just loved. The pitch deck took a bit longer, but the result was outstanding. Both VC's and clients like our logo, and the pitch deck is really helping us in our fundraising efforts right now.

Our customers care about our logo, finding different and interesting things that appeal to them. They find the answers for themselves about what our logo means, and we’re very happy with this result. Traditional people from traditional industries feel that the logo is close to them and from their world.

How did Agente perform from a project management standpoint?

Though they are a bit slow and don’t like to work weekends, communication was good. However, as a startup, we work on the weekend and would hope that the agencies we work with do the same.

What did you find most impressive about Agente?

They’re very open and efficient. They’re creative, but sometimes too creative. They’re nice to work with. It was a great experience.

Are there any areas Agente could improve?

One thing that bothers me with Agente is they try to go too greatly into detail and they might take longer than we expect. We’ve been working with them on UX/UI for a month. We’re also working with another company at the same time and we’re still undecided who we will use for this phase of the project.

AGENTE provided user interface and user experience optimization, as well as branding and graphic design, for a mobile app prototype. The app functions as an automation for HR departments and job seekers.

The Reviewer

1-10 Employees

Sydney, Australia

Mehdi Mostag

Founder, Discoveree

Verified

the reviewer

Founder, Discoveree

Mehdi Mostag

IT Services

1-10 Employees

Sydney, Australia

Online Review

The client submitted this review online.

Verified

5.0

Quality:

5.0

Schedule:

4.5

Cost:

5.0

Willing to refer:

5.0

the review

"Anything that requires graphic design and UX design is their strength."

Jul 05, 2016

The Review

Feedback summary:

Iterating with another firm, AGENTE produced increasingly market-ready versions of the product. The team’s strengths were in all areas of UX and graphic design; their delivery schedule could be somewhat inconsistent. Their communication improved during the course of the relationship.

the review

Discoveree is a job board in Australia. We deliver jobs to job seekers in real time based on their profile, social media, and the web. I'm the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Agente?

I brought them in for mobile application prototypes. It’s a SaaS platform, web application, and mobile app. The specific work that Agente was doing was for the mobile app.

We required AGENTE to improve the user experience and user interface on our mobile application prototypes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided an initial prototype. We have UX experts here. Agente mocked up the different scenarios and flowcharts and the wireframes that accommodated them. They also provided the branding, design and Invision prototypes that were required to create a seamless experience for senior stakeholders to review our digital assets.

The whole concept is that we developed a platform and mobile application that allows users to search for jobs without physically having to search for jobs. The features have an algorithm and the algorithm searches the user based on their skill sets instead of their job title and all their digital resume data and presents those results to an employer instantly if they’re able in the network. They’re to show their abilities. It’s an automated system for HR. We used someone else for the development and implementation. I approached Agente before I got investors for the product. There were other business relationships my investors had so it didn’t make sense to use Agente.

How many resources have been assigned to your project?

We had a UX designer, a UI designer, and a project manager. They’re a very good agency in terms of the standard you get abroad.

How did you come to work with Agente?

I came across their website and saw some of their work in creative art, design, and layout. I got to know them and tested them out with a project. From that point on, we developed a lot more work. They’re very good with illustration and video animation.

How much have you invested with Agente?

We spent between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I approached them in early 2016, and the project took a year. There were a lot of small tasks that they worked on throughout the year. I had presentations for investors and I got professional decks done and things like that. They do a lot of different work. We are not currently working with them because of the relationships my business partners have with other firms.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’ve done iterations, Agente did some iterations, and the other vendor did some iterations. The app hasn’t been released to the market yet. I’m about to launch the business in a month or two. Based on what we did and what I asked for on the brief, Agente executed it well. Value for money is good too.

How did Agente perform from a project management standpoint?

They were fairly attentive. Skype meetings always happened when I needed them to. Sometimes they weren’t as prompt as they should’ve been when projects needed to be completed. They have a lot of clients and might have some backlog. At the beginning, it was a bit difficult, but as time went on, things were done on time. When I was first starting, I was always in a hurry and probably a bit pushy. Now that it’s been so long, I realize it’s more like a marathon than a race. I’m taking my time to get it right.

What did you find most impressive about Agente?

Their strengths are animation, illustration, digital design, and UX. Anything that requires graphic design and UX design is their strength.

Are there any areas Agente could improve?

They are a little inconsistent on delivery times. Another weakness would be the language barrier and a few other factors that you have when you’re working remotely.